Thais Cristina Sampaio Machado

Project management aided by verbal decision analysis approaches: a case study for the selection of the best SCRUM practices

Agile methodologies, in particular the framework SCRUM, are popular in software development companies. Most of the time, however, it is not feasible for these companies to apply every characteristic of the framework. This paper presents a hybrid application of verbal decision analysis methodologies in order to select some of the most relevant SCRUM approaches to be applied by a company. A questionnaire was developed and a group of experienced ScrumMasters was selected to answer it, aiming at characterizing every SCRUM approach into criteria values. The hybrid application consists in dividing the SCRUM practices into groups (stage supported by the ORCLASS method application), using the ORCLASSWEB tool. Then, the rank of the preferred practices will be generated by the application of the ZAPROS-LM method.

A Model for Mobile Television Applications Based on Verbal Decision Analysis

The emergence of Digital Television - DTV brings the necessity to select an interface that may be used in Digital Television for Mobile Devices. Many different candidate solutions for interaction applications can be possible. This way, usability specialists prototyped interfaces that were analyzed according to users’ preferences through usability test, considering criteria classified in accordance with users’ preferences and alternatives, which were obtained from a ranking modeled by verbal decision analysis. Results revealed great influence of the application’s functions evidence in the ease of navigation.

A hybrid model in the selection of prototypes for educational tools: An applicability in verbal decision analysis

Aiming to answer the growing demand for professionals with knowledge about software processes, this paper presents ideas for creating educational tools that supports its teaching. The paper defines six options of prototypes of educational tools and illustrates the study of preferences elicitation in the application of a hybrid method using ORCLASS and PACOM methodologies from verbal decision analysis (VDA) framework to classify and rank the prototypes according to the decision maker preferences. The application with prototypes was chosen because the software engineering is an area that allows the wide research in the preferences elicitation process. The research results show that, the adoption of qualitative methods of decision support, can benefit significantly the selection of the interface aiming to use the selected interface from the approved group and ranked for future development of real educational tools applications.

Applying verbal decision analysis in selecting prototypes for educational tools

Aiming to answer the growing demand for professionals with knowledge about software processes, this article presents ideas for using educational tools that supports its teaching, through realistic experiences away from risks of real projects. The paper defines four options of prototypes of interfaces with specific characteristics which were evaluated qualitatively by applying the verbal decision analysis (VDA) methodology ORCLASS to classify them in decision groups, structured on the decision makers preferences obtained through the interview. The objective is to use the interfaces of the approved group for future development of real educational tools applications.

Applying verbal decision analysis in selecting specific practices of CMMI

Although many activities are available in order to satisfy the Project Management area, Software Development Organizations face difficulties to implant functional and effective practices of Project Management. The main objective of this work is to provide an analysis of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Specific Practices applied in the Software Development. This work intends to examine them toward to identify which are the most preferable ones, according to elicitation of preferences of a decision maker, in order to improve a software development process for a stated type of project and Company. The process of decision making is supported by the application of a classification methodology named ZAPROS-LM of Verbal Decision Analysis (VDA), classifying the mentioned Specific Practices (SP), as alternatives.

OrclassWeb: A Tool Based on the Classification Methodology ORCLASS from Verbal Decision Analysis Framework

The decision making is present in every activity of the human world, either in simple day-by-day problems or in complex situations inside of an organization. Sometimes emotions and reasons become hard to separate; therefore decision support methods were created to help decision makers to make complex decisions, and Decision Support Systems (DSS) were created to aid the application of such methods. The paper presents the development of a new tool, which reproduces the procedure to apply the Verbal Decision Analysis (VDA) methodology ORCLASS. The tool, called OrclassWeb, is software that supports the process of the mentioned DSS method and the paper provides proof of concepts, that which presents its reliability with ORCLASS.

Dealing the Selection of Project Management through Hybrid Model of Verbal Decision Analysis

Abstract The decision may be defined as a result of a process of choice, given an identified problem or when the decision maker faces an opportunity of creation, optimization or improvement in an environment. Considering that agile methodologies, in focus Framework SCRUM, are always more popular in Development Software Companies, and noticing that the mentioned companies cannot always apply every characteristics of the framework, this paper presents an hybrid application of methodologies from Verbal Decision Analysis (VDA) framework to select some of the SCRUM approaches to be applied in the company, considering the elicitation of preferences of a decision maker. The work intends to provide an evaluation of Project Management approaches applied in the Software Development and examine them toward to identify which are the most preferable ones, aided by the application of a hybrid model of decision making. The hybrid model aims at classifying alternatives using ORCLASS method, through the developed software, and ranking them using a Verbal Decision Analysis method (ZAPROS III-i). Afterward, Specific Practices (SP) of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMi) level 2 were chosen, and approaches to attend the SPs were ranked from the most preferable to the least preferable ones, aiming to help enterprises which are not able to reach a complete CMMi qualification.

Applying Verbal Decision Analysis in the Selecting Practices of Framework SCRUM

Considering that agile methodologies, in focus Framework SCRUM, are each time more popular for Development Software Companies, and noticing that the mentioned companies can’t always apply every characteristics of the framework, this paper presents an application of the Verbal Decision Analysis (VDA) methodology ORCLASS to select some of the characteristics to be applied in the company, considering the preferences elicitation of a decision maker.

Towards a verbal decision analysis on the selecting practices of framework SCRUM

Considering that agile methodologies, in focus Framework SCRUM, are always more popular for Development Software Companies, and noticing that the mentioned companies cannot always apply every characteristics of the framework, this paper presents an application of methodologies from the Verbal Decision Analysis (VDA) framework to generate a rank of the SCRUM characteristics to be applied in a company. The paper consists on an application of a questionnaire for a group of experienced ScrumMasters and considers the elicitation of preferences of a decision maker for creating the final rank of alternative. The methodology from VDA framework selected to be applied for ranking the alternatives was ZAPROS-LM. The final rank of alternatives indicates a list of SCRUM practices, from the more preferable to less preferable one, according to the decision maker responses.

Hybrid Approaches of Verbal Decision Analysis in the Selection of Project Management Approaches

Abstract Decision support methods aim at assisting in the decision-making process by simplifying the analysis of the problem and justifying the choice of a particular potential action. Recent researches have shown that the hybridization of methods is able to overcome limitations presented by the methods when applied separately: the classification of alternatives before submitting them to an ordination methodology would be an e ective way of filtering the set to be ordered. Specific Practices of Capability Maturity Model Integration were analyzed through a decision making model, assisted by the methods SAC and ZAPROS III-i. The results will be compared to previous studies.